Soccer Bowl '82 was the championship final of the 1982 NASL season. The

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

advanced to the

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's ...

for the third consecutive year and took on the Seattle Sounders in a rematch of

Soccer Bowl '77 Soccer Bowl '77 was the championship final of the 1977 NASL season. The New York Cosmos (who had dropped "New York" from their name in the off-season to simply "Cosmos") took on the Seattle Sounders. The match was played on August 28, 1977 a ...

. The match was played on September 18, 1982, at

Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California, United States. Opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium; it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium for sportswriter Jack Murphy from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadium's namin ...

, in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. New York won, 1–0, and were crowned the 1982 NASL champions. This was the Cosmos' fifth North American championship and fourth in the past six years.

Background

New York Cosmos

The New York Cosmos won the Eastern Division with a 23-9 record and a total of 203 points. They defeated the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

in the quarterfinals by two game to one. By virtue of their two-game sweep in the semifinals against the San Diego Sockers, the Cosmos advanced to the NASL championship final for the sixth time in franchise history.

Seattle Sounders

The Seattle Sounders qualified for the playoffs as the Western Division champions with an 18-14 record and a total of 166 points. In the quarterfinals they needed all three games to get past the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

. Likewise their semifinal match-up took three games to decide a winner. Seattle's two games to one defeat of the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...

earned the Sounders their second ever trip to the Soccer Bowl.

Game summary

Usual Cosmos starters

Steve Moyers Steve Moyers (born September 23, 1956, in St. Louis, Missouri) is a retired soccer forward from the United States, who was a member of the American squad that competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He spent eight sea ...

Johan Neeskens RCH may stand for: * Radio Club de Honduras, an amateur radio organization * Railway Clearing House, the British financial clearing house and technical standards bureau for railways * The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal), a unit of the Canadian ...

and

Wim Rijsbergen Wilhelmus "Wim" Gerardus Rijsbergen (; born 18 January 1952) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a defender. He was last the manager of Solomon Islands' national team. Playing career Rijsbergen was born in Leiden, Sout ...

were injured and unavailable for the match. Seattle dominated the first half outshooting New York, 10–5. Numerous Sounders' chances were either squandered with shots slightly off the mark, or gobbled up by Cosmos goalie, Hubert Birkenmeier. In the 31st minute, and against the run of play, New York sweeper, Carlos Alberto, picked up the ball in midfield and passed it to

Julio César Romero Julio César Romero Insfrán (born 28 August 1960), also known as Romerito, is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, considered among the greatest players in Paraguayan football history. He is the only Paraguay ...

. Romero slid the ball to

Giorgio Chinaglia Giorgio Chinaglia (; 24 January 1947 – 1 April 2012) was an Italian association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with ...

on the right side of the penalty area. With his back to goal and using his body to shield the ball, the Cosmos' captain maneuvered to his leftaround Seattle defender, Benny Dargle, and from 12 yards out shot to the left. Goalkeeper Paul Hammond got a piece of it, but the ball nevertheless caromed just inside the left post for the game's only goal. The second half saw considerably less action with New York content to protect their slim lead.

Match details

1982 NASL Champions:

Television:

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

''(cable)''
Announcers:

Spencer Ross Spencer Ross (born July 19, 1940) is an American sportscaster. With the exception of the New York Mets, Ross has called play-by-play for every professional New York metropolitan area sports franchise, including the Yankees of MLB, the Nets a ...

, Werner Roth

Match statistics

References

{{1982 in American soccer

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

New York Cosmos matches Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) matches 1982 in sports in California Sports competitions in San Diego Soccer competitions in California September 1982 sports events in the United States 1980s in San Diego